Exploring the other side of the Atlantic.

Month: September 2013

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The Vikings play the Steelers at Wembley for MNF this week. The NFL hosted a fan fest on Regent Street to celebrate. Curious to see how the Brits would embrace America’s sport, I stopped by for an hour or two. … Continue reading →

As I type this, BBC1 news is playing in the background. Apparently Lionel Messi has been accused of tax fraud, and the leader of the Scottish Independence party has challenged David Cameron to a television debate. Now you know.

Last night I had my first fish and chips experience at Gigs Fish and Chips which is close by to my house. The cod was served on a bed of chips. The chips were more like what i would my family would call “home fries” rather than typical french fries. To drink, I had some Old Jamaica Ginger Beer. Continue reading →

Despite buying a GPS capable smart-phone, I still do a good bit of wandering. Not lost really, I just get distracted by things and end up ignoring the directions and exploring the surrounding boroughs including Holborn and Clerkenwell.

I jinxed myself. I couldn’t switch out of the class I wanted to switch out of, so I’m stuck with classes on Monday mornings, Thursdays and Friday mornings. No four-day weekends for me.

I wasn’t going to do that much continental travel during the semester ( aside from our “fall break”), but this puts a huge dent in my Ireland plans. I was going to visit Janie in Cork for three days and do two days in Dublin, but it looks like I’ll only be doing two and half days in Cork. I might plan a two-day trip to Dublin later in the semester, but it’s going to cost me a lot more since I won’t already be in the country.

Despite my surname, I apparently did not inherit the luck of the Irish. It’s probably my ancestors punishing me for studying in enemy territory.

Today was orientation at CUL. It was about as exciting as it sounds. Which is, not at all. I was essentially stuck in a room full of other Americans for the day. Most of them were grouped off because they came from the same schools so it was really weird.

We also did a brief walking tour of the neighborhood near CUL(pictures at the end of this post).

I am still getting lost. A lot. It’s only the second day, so I’m trying to not be too hard on myself, but it’s very frustrating to literally walking around in circles because London streets aren’t clearly labeled and they merge into another street name and THE STREET OF MY FLAT IS LITERALLY ON NONE OF THE MAJOR MAPS BECAUSE IT’S SO SMALL.

OK, rant over.

I want to give a shoutout to my friend Kerri who told me she reads all of these posts while “getting ready for her gym flow.” Typical.

After sleeping off my jet lag, I decided I wanted to go shopping at the famed Primark. Last night my roommate commented on how little I packed, and I started to worry. Maybe I had overdone it with the “packing lightly.” But as soon as I stepped into Primark, I knew I had made the right choice. Continue reading →